A number of interpretations were given yesterday for the closed-door conversation over the weekend between outgoing President Lee Teng-hui (
At the meeting Lee reportedly spoke of his inclination to support DPP legislator Shen Fu-hsiung (
To some observers this shows how alienated Lee has become from the KMT since he was forced to step down as chairman. Others say it also points to what they call his intimate long-term relationship with the DPP.
Within the KMT, some angry members yesterday demanded the party discipline Lee over what they labelled his "betrayal" of the party. Party officials, however, defended the president by saying his comments over the weekend were no more than a "joke."
"Lee's words could possibly send alarm signals to people likely to stray from the `Lee Teng-hui path' [referring to Lee's "localization" of the party from the mainland to Taiwan -- (
Hung Hsing-jung (
Hung told reporters that Lee might be trying to warn off current Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who supported those demanding Lee's resignation after the party's defeat in the March 18 election.
Lee suffered antagonism from the party right after the historic election. On March 19, hundreds of people swarmed to the party's headquarters in Taipei to demand Lee step down. Also, party conservatives began a series of verbal attacks against Lee, clamoring for Lee's expulsion from the KMT altogether.
But while many within the KMT preferred to draw a line in the sand between Lee and the party, observers said the DPP -- on the contrary -- took Lee in as an ally.
When Lee headed the government, he "never looked on the DPP as his enemy -- the DPP, meanwhile, did not know whether to take Lee as an enemy or not," said political reporter Chung Hui-ying (
According to Chung, Lee sometimes invoked the DPP and its reformist opinions as the basis for resisting anti-democratic forces.
At other times, however, Lee refused to yield to the DPP due to their different interpretations of constitutional issues. Therefore, wrote Chung, the DPP was often frustrated by Lee, making it difficult to measure what he was up to.
"The mistaken belief among DPP members originated from their inability to clearly see that Lee was the KMT's leader -- a competitive opponent of the DPP," Lee Wen-chung said.
Lee Wen-chung said Lee's "path" was actually closer to that of the DPP, and thus there formed a cooperative relationship between the two.
On personnel matters, however, Lee had no other choice but to support his party's candidate, Lien Chan (
Since Lee resigned from the party's leadership, however, conditions have changed.
Taking Lee's words last weekend as an example, Lee Wen-chung said, it is possible that Lee could work together with the DPP, as long as his own party's members themselves "stray" from his path.
He added that it is also possible that this could be the beginning of an era where the DPP could place "great expectations" on Lee -- although he did not specify what these expectations entailed.
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